Back to questions.In addition to writing the English words to Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It), Sammy Lerner also wrote I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.
Here are the original words, both chorus and verse:
- Oh, I'm Popeye the sailor man,
- Popeye the sailor man,
- Now, I yam what I am an' tha's all what I yam,
- I'm Popeye the sailor man.
- Now, I'm one tough kazookus,
- What hates all palookas,
- What ain't on the up and square.
- Boy, I biff 'em and buffs 'em,
- And always outroughs 'em,
- But none of 'em gets nowhere.
- Now, if anyone dasses to risk my fisk,
- It's bop an' it's wham, unnerstan'?
- So keep good behav'or,
- It's your one life-saver,
- With Popeye the sailor man.
- Oh, I'm Popeye the sailor man,
- Popeye the sailor man,
- Boy, I yam what I yam,
- An' tha's all what I yam,
- I'm Popeye the sailor man.
- Oh, I'm Popeye the sailor man,
- I'm Popeye the sailor man,
- Boy, I'm strong to the finich,
- 'Cause I eats me spinach,
- I'm Popeye the sailor man.
Popeye originally came from a comic strip called Thimble Theater. The line "I yam what I yam an' tha's all I yam" originated in the strip, and was adapted for the song.
Spinach didn't occupy a big part of the story-line in the comic strip. It was used as a gag in the strip occasionally, but the bit where Popeye suddenly gains super-human strength from eating spinach was invented for the cartoons. In the strip, Popeye had super-human strength all the time, partly because he ate a lot of spinach. The strip is so different from the cartoons that it's worth checking out. You can sometimes find re-prints of Thimble Theater strips in well-stocked bookstores or comic book stores.
Home